Pay-back fails to please all
Members of the Masakhane stokvel in Nemato are continuing to press charges against their treasurer, ward 7 councillor Mbuyiseli Yali, after his car accident in which their R92,000 in contributions was allegedly stolen, even though other ANC councillors clubbed together and paid back the money last Friday.
Still unhappy, the members believe they are owed over R150,000 in repayments and interest from the stokvel, and that Yali should be sanctioned for the theft by his party as well as the municipality.
On December 15 last year, Yali had apparently collected the money from a bank in Port Alfred and had travelled to Bathurst before handing it over to recipients, when the alleged incident took place.
In a report by Malibongwe Dayimani of our sister newspaper, the Daily Dispatch, stokvel member Asonge Nyendwana said Yali’s payment was not enough and members were expecting at least R153,000 to be returned.
Ndlambe council speaker Vivian Maphaphu was the largest contributor to the bail-out, paying R44,777 from her own pocket, while Ndlambe executive committee councillor Monica Mateti gave R10,000, with Yali making up the difference himself.
According the Dispatch, the Sarah Baartman ANC regional executive committee (REC) instructed Yali to pay back the money and commented that the ANC perceived the matter “borders on the integrity and code of conduct” and apologised to the stokvel members.
Yali is due to appear before the REC on Tuesday next week.
Comment was requested from both Maphaphu and Mateti but none had been received by the time the paper went to print, although the Dispatch report indicated that they did speak to the press about the incident, reporting that Mphaphu had said: “He [Yali] is a colleague of mine and a child [Yali is 37 years old]. I am a 63-year-old with four children who might one day find themselves in a similar situation.”
Municipal spokesperson Cecil Mbolekwa said in an e-mail: “There is no formal or written complaint that has been received by the municipality or council at this stage. We can only respond to you once this issue has gone to [the] ethics committee [and] then to council.”